7

7 gently rubbed 1's back, saying nothing. She just let him cry, her own bottled up feelings threatening to push their way to the surface. She wasn't used to this kind of performance from 1. He usually hid his emotions deeply inside himself and never showed any weakness but now... She had no idea what to think of this.

But she wasn't going to ask and didn't feel it was right to question his feelings. From how he was acting it was apparent he really meant what he'd said and he wasn't just play acting to get on her good side.

His cries were also doing something to her defensive wall, putting cracks in it. She began to feel guilty for how she'd treated him and for not giving him any chances to redeem himself. She'd pushed him away again and again, telling herself he wasn't worth bothering with or caring too much about because he didn't care about anyone but himself.

But now... now she questioned her own feelings. It was becoming more and more obvious she'd been wrong about him from the very start.

She wondered if things would have been different if she'd treated him better. Would they have actually been friends? There was no way of finding that out now.

1 continued crying into her chest for a few moments longer before he suddenly stiffened and pulled away, looking as if he'd just exposed himself. He looked away as he tried to put his stoic mask back on. He wondered what she was thinking about him right now. She probably considered him a big baby or worse.

"I..." he looked away from her, stammering. "I don't.."

"1..."

The older stitchpunk looked at her, his optics wide which only served to make him even more vulnerable.

7 reached out as if she were going to touch his shoulder but the sound of clicking stopped her. She lifted her head, spotting the twins, now awake, watching the two from the top of the chair. She wondered how long they'd been awake and how much they'd seen and heard.

"I'm going to..." 1 started to move away as if he'd been caught doing something wrong. "I'll talk to you later, 7." and he was gone before she could call out to him to come back.

7 looked up at the twins once he was gone. "Did you see it?" she asked them.

The duo stared at her confused. They didn't know what she was talking about, or were at least pretending they didn't. She sighed and started climbing up to them. 1 hadn't told her not to talk to the twins about it so she intended to explain to them what had just happened and see what their reactions would be to it.

She was pretty sure they wouldn't think 1 was lying, even if the story did surprise them.

000

1 didn't stop walking until he was a good distance away from the living room and its occupants. He then leaned against the wall and tried to regain his breath, tried to calm himself. How could he have been so stupid? What did she think of him? What did the twins think of him?

How could he have broken down in front of her like that? Was she going to regret feeling bad for him? Would she decide letting him spill his guts to her like that showed he wasn't trying to change for real but was him looking for sympathy? Would she think he'd do or think such a thing?

That hadn't been why he'd done it, he'd meant what he'd said. He really was sorry for all the things he'd done in the past.

But how did she know that? She'd always thought the worst of him. She might be questioning his sincerity right now and deciding he really had been play acting after all.

"No, she isn't that stupid," he told himself. "She knows I meant what I said, it wasn't an act. It wasn't..."

000

The twins flashed their optics at 7 as she climbed up to them. They were asking her questions, obviously about what she and 1 had talked about. She hesitated to tell them what it was all about. But the twins were not going to let up if she tried to make it seem unimportant. They were childish yes, but they were also very pushy when they wanted to know things. Plus they were much older than they acted and she'd learned a long time ago not to think of them as little kids.

If the female stitchpunk didn't tell them they'd go and bother 1 and force it out of him one way or another.

"Okay, okay okay," she said before the siblings could even make that decision. "I'll tell you what happened."

They smiled and sat down to listen.

00000

1 went back outside, deciding it was wiser than going back into the room and facing 7 and the twins. Though he really had been sincere in what he'd said he was now feeling self conscious, especially after he'd cried on 7's shoulder like a small child.

Once outside he looked toward the memorials as if expecting to spot those ghosts once more. Those spectors with their judging eyes. This time he saw nothing but fabric flapping in the wind and sighed in relief. Maybe now that he'd confessed it all to 7 they would finally let him rest.

Sighing he allowed himself to sit down on the broken steps. "I shouldn't have run out like that," he said to himself after a moment. "I should have stayed in there and explained to the twins. What is 7 telling them? Is she telling the truth or lying about me?"

Why would she lie? She'd been willing to listen to him from the start. It was highly unlikely she'd done it for some thoughtless selfish reason.

He began to realize he was being extremely paranoid about this. He knew worrying about it wouldn't make things any better for himself or the others. He was just going to have to accept that he might have made a mistake and 7 was going to tell the twins all about their discussion, only spinning it in a way to make him seem like a fool. Whether they cared about how he felt or not was a completely different story.

"I get the feeling it's what you wanted anyway," he said, looking at 2's memorial. "You always did say those things about me and her that someday we'd be able to get along. I guess you were right for once, old friend."

2 would probably be smiling at him right now and encouraging him to be more honest with 7. Just like he'd always done in the past. Maybe that was why he and 7 had never actually killed each other. 2 had that way with people. Even if they disagreed he'd always found a way to keep things from getting violent. Always the peacemaker, that 2 was.

Look how 1 had replayed him...

He sighed, looking back at his mangled hand. "Maybe now he can rest in peace." though that statement would only ring true when 7 actually released the souls from the talisman.

Yeah, there was that. If she kept them inside the talisman wouldn't that make her cruel and selfish? They needed to be free and holding them inside the device was just thoughtless.

He glanced back into the building, considering going back inside and trying to persuade her to let them go. But he stopped himself, realizing the futility of the idea. Even if 7 did understand him a little better she was unlikely going to see the logic in releasing the souls, especially 9's. If anything she'd just decide to keep them longer.

No, it was best if she made the decision by herself.

But just how long it would be before she was able to let go was a completely different story.

00000

7 carefully explained to the twins what she and 1 and discussed earlier. The twins listened intently, taking in every word. It seemed apparent that they were allowing it to sink in and their minds were processing the story. 7 wondered what they were thinking and what kind of questions they'd ask her if they had been able to speak.

When she finished the twins looked at each other and flashed their eyes rapidly as if they were having their own private discussion about what she'd said. She waited for them to finish before she made any remarks or asked any questions about it. Once they finished they looked up at her and flashed their eyes again.

"Hmmm? what is it?"

4 took her hand and looked up at her with sad eyes. The little female flashed her optics again as if she were trying to tell the other female something important.

7 wished she could understand them better. She guessed that 4 was telling her that she thought 1 was totally sincere about what he'd said and it would be best if they gave him a chance to prove it.

While 7 agreed with that sentiment it would be hard to do, especially since 1 had run off somewhere and probably wouldn't want to be bothered for awhile. He might just hide himself from them and not show his face ever again for fear that he'd been misunderstood.

"You're right, though," she said to them. "he does seem to want to make things better, I just wish doing that was easier. I mean one small apology can't exactly make up for everything he's done, right?"

They nodded sadly.

She sighed, letting her shoulders droop. This wasn't going to be easy. "But I do think we should at least let him try, right?"

The twins looked at each other then at her and nodded.

"Okay." that was settled. "Let's go find him then."

000

1 had returned to the circle of memorials. As he walked into the center of the circle he became aware of a more positive feeling coming from them. even if the souls weren't really there he'd felt a great weight on his shoulders when he'd previously entered. That feeling was gone and he wondered if confessing to 7 really had done him good. The sense of peace he felt now seemed to prove that.

The stitchpunk sighed in relief, carefully sitting down on the ground. of course now he didn't really have anything to say to them so he was just sitting there and allowing himself to mourn properly.

And mourn he did.